Idiom
holy cow
Meaning
An exclamation of surprise or astonishment.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Holy cow, that car is fast.”
“When she opened the door and saw the crowd, she said, "Holy cow, you guys actually came."”
“Standing at the canyon's edge and beholding the vast, painted cliffs below, he could only whisper, "Holy cow," the words inadequate against the immensity of the silence.”
Examples
simple
“Holy cow, that car is fast.”
contextual
“When she opened the door and saw the crowd, she said, "Holy cow, you guys actually came."”
complex
“Standing at the canyon's edge and beholding the vast, painted cliffs below, he could only whisper, "Holy cow," the words inadequate against the immensity of the silence.”
Origin
Minced oath for holy shit, possibly partially based on the fact that cows are sacred in some religions (e.g. Hinduism).
Key words
Related idioms
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